Bill Aims to Protect Sex Offenders' Employers

By Veronica Garabelli Monday, February 15, 2010

RICHMOND – A bill making headway in the General Assembly seeks to protect employers of sex offenders by not listing the name of the offender’s workplace on Virginia’s Sex Offender Registry.

Senate Bill 635, sponsored by Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Burke, would still list a sex offender’s work address. The bill passed the Senate unanimously this month and now will be considered by the House of Delegates.

Marsden said SB 635 is meant to help sex offenders integrate back into society.

Currently, the Virginia Sex Offender Registry’s Web site http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov displays a photograph and description of each offender; lists the offender’s crime; and shows the offender’s home address and the name and location of the offender’s employer.

As a result, some sex offenders lose their jobs – because a customer complains or because the employer fears the stigma of being associated with the sex offender registry.

“It’s the address and the location that is still important, not the name of the business,” Marsden said. “We don’t want businesses to be harmed, and we don’t want the offender, if they’re doing everything they’re supposed to do, being harmed.”

A group called Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia approached the senator about filing the bill.

Mary Devoy, organizer for the group, said employers who are willing to give sex offenders a second chance despite the negative publicity should not be punished. Devoy said that when sex offenders are unemployed, they can’t meet their parole requirements.

“We want the folks on the registry to be able to survive,” Devoy said. “Let them live their lives, have a job and raise their children. This bill is one step toward that.”

Several people have posted comments about the bill on the Richmond Sunlight Web site. One said that by listing the employer’s name, the sex offender registry has “effectively applied the ‘social pariah’ label to responsible businesses.”

Citizens may track Senate Bill 635 by clicking here.